PABNA. Aug 7: Traffic fam caused by the buses, trucks and other vehicles and by the rickshaws within the Pabna pourashabha area have posed a severe threat to the dwellers of the tiny town of Pabna The problem has been aggravating everyday on the very nose of the authorities concerned with the rise in the number vehicles on the one hand and the increasing num bei of the population everyday

The number of roads, their breadth, the footpaths are so

very narrow that on most of the roads within the town area, not more than two rick shaws. can move on them side by side. and. in cases of large size vehicles like buses or trucks, only one such vehicle can ply at a time. There is har dly any scope for three rick shaws to ply simultaneously or for two buses or trucks to more side by side at a time in most of the roads of the town.

With a view to ease the heavily growing pressure of traffic in the town and on the

face of strong public opinion in favour of solution of the problem. a new bus terminal was constructed about two miles to the east of the town and the bus-owners were asked to remove all the buses, coaches, trucks etc. to the said terminal and a by-pass road was also constructed during the eighties.

But the bus-owners took years to go there and that also quite half heartedly. However, since the public pressure was quite high, they shifted many of the vehicles there but after reaching an understanding that Dhaka-bound coach services would use the old bus stand situated just in the middle of the town as there was no safety of the passengers in the newly-constructed terminal. The bus owners, however, assured that all other buses etc. would be running from and through the new terminal.

According to said understanding. a town bus service was also introduced and except the coaches, all other vehicles were shifted there.

But with the passage of time, it was found that the town bus service was finally

withdrawn

When asked, the secretary of the bus owners association told The Dally Star over, telephone that the town service was found through experience ’to be not viable as the passengers preferred rickshaws and scooters to buses.

Not only that, local buses plying between Pabna. Atgh-aria. Chatmohar. Bhangoora and Faridpur thanas ana also those plying between Pabna and Ishwardi gradually reentered the town and have unofficially introduced their service regularjy from roadside stoppages without using the bus stand.

Many trucks, defying the understanding, are also found ply through the main roads of the town even during (he day. The Barobazar area is almost always — both during the days and nights — causing a severe congestion.

Traffic police posts have been set up at few places but due-to lack of adequately wide roads and lack of diversion facilities on the one hand and due to corrupt practices prevailing among many of them.

proper traffic control or traffic guidance were virtually absent. Besides, the number of traffic posts should also be increased, according to a police officer in charge of the town.

The said’ officer further stated that the powerful bus owners of Pabna had quite a good influence over the local administrator for which effective measures against the violators of the traffic rules could not generally be taken. He cited that despite the bus owners' open and flagrant violation of the agreement that except Dhaka bound coaches, all other vehicles would ply through the new terminal, no measure against them was being taken by the authorities who were quite aware of such violation and also that many local buses were plying through the busiest road of the town daily.

The source further’said that the number of licensed and unlicensed rickshaws has also risen abnormally but the pourashabha authorities were not keen to solve the problem.

When contacted the Chairman of the Pourashaba admi-

tted that thousands of unlicensed rickshaws were plying but despite best efforts from their sides the rickshaw-pullers or rickshawowners were not coming forward to !'et licenses issued in their avour. When asked why they were not coming forth for such licenses, the • chairman,-said that firstly, most of them were too poor and were unable to bear the charges for photos and fees for licenses: secondly, they found that if they could satisfy police, all the problem were sblved and they needed, qot to spend for getting a license issued and thirdly because they knew that the pourashabha would not issue as many licenses as applied for since the pourashabha would not allow unlimited number of rickshaws to ply without considering the. question of traffic load, traffic jam and traffic dislocation etc,

Abdul All. an aged rickshawpuller however blamed both the pourashabha and traffic police both as, the poor rickshawpullers had- to satisfy both and hence, such dislocation.